Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Although the Ming Dynasty had the Shenjiying as a firearms unit at the beginning of its establishment, it also never stopped improving and developing firearms.

But in fact, until the end of the Ming Dynasty, the status of the Firearms Battalion in the army was difficult to describe.

Artillery is fine, after all, it is still very useful for defense.

But the fire musketeers were very weak. Cavalry was the natural nemesis of the fire muskets. Especially when facing the iron hoofs of the Jiannu, the fire musketeers of the Ming Dynasty could rarely exert their normal combat effectiveness.

Once the cavalry rushed into the ranks of the musketeers, the musketeers were almost lambs to be slaughtered.

There's no way, slow shooting rate and poor accuracy are so deadly.

It is also for this reason that the musketeers have always been at the bottom of the contempt chain in the Ming army.

The officers and soldiers of the original Firearms Battalion of the Beijing Camp have certainly changed their views under Zhang Shikang's constant encouragement, support and personal efforts.

But others may not think so. In other border towns of the Ming Dynasty, the salary of firearms soldiers is also the lowest, and the payment is close to that of cavalry or other arms. It can be said to be terrible.

There is another very important reason why people choose to be musketeers instead of soldiers, and that is that it is difficult to count the heads of musketeers.

At a time when military merit is calculated primarily based on the number of enemies killed, if a row of muskets are fired, whose heads will be counted?

Of course, Zhang Shikang had solved this problem long ago. He just wanted to correct the thinking of these new soldiers who had joined the Beijing camp.

He doesn't have time to manage other military towns for the time being, but in the Beijing camp, the firearms unit is the core.

“The selection of soldiers for the Firearms Battalion has strict requirements in terms of vision, reaction, physical fitness, etc. If any one of them fails to meet the standard, they will not be allowed to join.

Xu Wenyuan, are you laughing at your uncle? You are so out of control just because you are a lieutenant general. Do you believe that I will exempt you from the position now? "

Zhang Shikang said this while looking at Xu Wenyuan, who was grinning from ear to ear at his promotion to lieutenant general.

Zhang Shikang had decided early on to promote the Second Sons Group.

In fact, it can't be considered as skipping the level. After the battle in Jiazhuang, the brothers of the Second Son Regiment did not embarrass him and performed very bravely. Judging from the military merits, most of the brothers were promoted from sentry chief to captain.

However, Zhang Shikang used the urgency of the war as an excuse and kept delaying the implementation until now. In fact, he was just being lazy.

All the troops of the Beijing camp participated in the Battle of Jingshui and played a decisive role. Most of them had accumulated enough military merit to be promoted to the next level.

The reason why Zhang Shikang promoted Xu Wenyuan and Chen Tao, in addition to their outstanding military achievements, was that they were relatives of noble families.

In any case, the recognition of the court by the nobles and relatives is definitely higher than that of the non-nobles and relatives, not to mention the children of the nobles and relatives.

These young men are now all thinking about serving the country and making contributions, which will be of great benefit to uniting them and their fathers.

After being scolded by Zhang Shikang, Xu Wenyuan stopped smiling.

"We will all listen to the Marshal. We have no objection. Whatever the Marshal says is what it is." Niu Gang took the lead.

He was originally a low-level general who emerged from the bottom through layers of selection. To have his current status and position, his admiration and gratitude to Zhang Shikang cannot be expressed in just a few words.

In fact, Niu Gang was skeptical for a while about Zhang Shikang's initial strange decisions.

But so much time has passed, and all signs indicate that Zhang Shikang was right. You may not understand it, but you will understand it one day.

"General, with two and a half firearms battalions, what does the other half count as?" Niu Gang asked the question that everyone was wondering.

"Artillery Battalion." Zhang Shikang said bluntly.

There was no artillery battalion before because the Beijing camp had only 20,000 people. The artillery was bulky, and its firing rate was worse than that of muskets. It also required more manpower for maintenance and transportation, so the disadvantages outweighed the advantages.

But the situation is different now. The Beijing Camp has enough manpower to maintain an artillery battalion of more than 2,000 people.

This confrontation with the Jiannu also made Zhang Shikang realize the importance of artillery. If there were dozens of artillery pieces when facing the Jiannu, perhaps the Jiannu's heavy infantry and cavalry would suffer more losses even if they charged.

Of course, if he really brought artillery, Grandpa Lu estimated that he would not be able to rescue the people. It was nonsense to march quickly with artillery.

Now with Mao Yuanyi and Song Yingxing, and Erbi joining after the new year, it is certain that an artillery force will be formed in the future.

“The artillery battalion will be drawn from the firearms battalion. Soldiers in the artillery battalion must not only be proficient in the use of muskets, but their infantry combat skills must also not be lower than those of other infantry soldiers.

Of course, the most important thing for an artillery soldier is the skill in operating the artillery."

In fact, according to Zhang Shikang's idea, he was planning to adjust the military pay for the soldiers, but the court was too poor, and Chongzhen had to work hard to make ends meet, and there was no payment for next month.

Seeing that no one had any further opinions, Zhang Shikang continued:

"Wang Jingduo, Zheng Chong, and Song Liangzu were promoted to the chief of the Beijing Camp Firearms Battalion.

Wu Datou, the former sentry chief of the Jizhou Town Infantry Camp, was promoted to captain.

Original……

......"

A quarter of an hour later, the rewards, punishments and appointments of the Beijing camp finally came to an end.

Although Zhang Shikang was strong in military affairs, he was not unwilling to accept the opinions of his subordinates. In terms of rewards and punishments in the military camp, he basically acted according to military merit, and everyone present also agreed with this.

"Fan Chengren of the baggage camp was neither arrogant nor impatient, but steady and reliable. He played an indispensable role in the victory of the two battles. He is truly the Xiao He of our Beijing camp.

As a quartermaster, he received the rank of lieutenant general and the salary of a lieutenant general. Let's all applaud Lao Fan!"

As he spoke, Zhang Shikang took the lead in applauding, and the others followed suit sporadically.

The reason why it is so sparse is that clapping is not something that is shown in later TV dramas. The ancients did not have this habit at all.

However, although Fan Chengren was only a civilian, he did play a very important role in this battle.

Food and supplies must be sent before troops move forward, and the Beijing camp often has to march for several days at a time, so it is definitely not easy to transport baggage and supplies.

Not only did Fan Chengren never let his soldiers go hungry, he also worked seamlessly with the Firearms Battalion. For this contribution alone, he deserves this reward.

It was also from this time that the door was opened for civil officials to be granted titles and for civil servants to be promoted to lieutenant general.

In Zhang Shikang's view, no matter whether they are civilians or civil servants, as long as they are in the army and have made contributions, they can be treated as military generals.

This is the same as in later generations when even political commissars and secretaries had military ranks.

"Finally, I hereby declare that all soldiers in the Beijing Camp will have three days off!"

As soon as the news came out, Xu Wenyuan and other members of the Second Sons' Regiment, as well as soldiers who were closer to home, were all delighted.

Although his family lives in Beijing, Xu Wenyuan has not been home for several months.

There are also Song Liangzu and Chen Tao. These two were kicked out of the house by their father because of fundraising, and the father threatened that they would not be allowed to return home unless they earned the money back.

Now, one of them has been conferred the title of Earl of Mancheng and the other the Earl of Dong'an. Not only do they have the title, but they have also been awarded military honors and promoted to the rank of captain-general. They can be said to have returned home in glory.

Having not been home for more than half a year, the two looked at each other with tears of excitement in their eyes.

In the past six months or so, everyone has grown a lot.

……